Troubled chains: The high street stores at risk of COLLAPSE

Is the UK high street in CRISIS?

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House of Fraser has announced store closures

"In the two weeks since the Cenbest and C.Banner transaction ceased, the directors have brought forward a number of potential buyers and the group's financial advisors have run a comprehensive M&A process to identify and then develop other third party interest that has culminated in the senior secured creditors leading negotiations with parties at a critical pace."

House of Fraser's lenders, which include HSBC, are now locked in talks with would-be suitors, including tracksuit tycoon Mike Ashley and Philip Day, the billionaire owner of Edinburgh Woollen Mill.

The pair are submitting proposals to rescue House of Fraser this week.

It is understood that an offer by retail restructuring specialist Alteri, which was also in the running, is not being taken seriously by the lending group.

Prior to the latest crisis, House of Fraser had recently agreed a so-called Company Voluntary Arrangement (CVA) with landlords to close half of stores, with 6,000 jobs in the firing line.

Under the rescue plan the chain's flagship Oxford Street store would have closed along with 30 others including those in Birmingham and Edinburgh.

The firm, brought by Chinese firm Sanpower for £480million in 2014, would have no stores left open in Wales stores as both the Cardiff and Cwmbran branches were set for closure.

The department store's struggles are the latest big-name blow to the British high street which is facing crisis as chains increasingly are shutting stores to focus on online sales.

The retail sector is Britain's biggest employer with 4.6million working in the industry.

But in recent years as shoppers move online, jobs have increasingly been put as risk with the likes of New Look and Marks and Spencer announcing store closures this year and Maplin and Toys R Us closing altogether.

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COLLAPSE: House of Fraser announced it was going into administration on Friday morning

House of Fraser was founded by Hugh Fraser and James Arthur in Glasgow in 1849 as a drapery shop called Arthur and Fraser. It took on its current name in 1941.

In 1985 it was bought out by the Fayed brothers, the owners of Harrods, for £615million, who floated the company on the London stock exchange began a major refurbishment of the department store.

The chain launched online in 2007 and opened its first international store in 2013 in Abu Dhabi.

House of Fraser's current owner – the Chinese conglomerate Sanpower Group – bought 89% of the department store in September 2014 for £480million.

After disappointing Christmas sales last year it announced it would close failing stores and reduce the size of others, beginning the latest chain of financial rescue efforts.